Credit Where Credits Due

Fringe is about the start its fifth and final season today. It marks the beginning of the end of what will likely go down as one of the best science fiction shows ever made; and it happened on Fox. Without mentioning the one that should never be forgotten (Browncoats rise and rise again!), Fox has stuck with Fringe longer than any network realistically would have against all odds. Fox has taken a deservedly bad wrap over the years for killing shows before their time; but with the rise of CBS' dominance the other three networks have been less quick to cut shows willy-nilly. Things have changed, even high profile flops like Flash Forward and Terra Nova have been able to show their respective series in its entirety; something that used to be fairly uncommon. It’s always nice when change is acknowledged though; no one likes to be shoehorned by the past.

I’m often hypercritical about companies with poor records when it comes to game development and employee relations. Rightly so I think the video game industry can’t survive if companies don’t take care of their employees. On the other hand change for the better, no matter how small, should always be acknowledged if fairness is the goal. Companies like EA have histories of poor upper management and yet if EA doesn’t buy BioWare/Pandemic it is unlikely gamers would have gotten the trilogy of Mass Effect so soon, and rather likely Dragon Age would have been developed only after the sure thing in Mass Effect had reached its conclusion.

Change usually happens slowly, even if we only remember the big changes. Game companies have improved in some areas, even in uncertain economic times. While there is much to improve, I’m taking this time to tip my hat, for all the positive changes both big and small video games companies have made, and for all the ones both public and private. Thanks.